Refrigerator car door fastener



Nov. 28, 1933. s. J. STRID REFRIGERATOR CAR DOOR FASTENER Filed Jan. 9, 19 52 INVENTOR SVf/VJ 57/4 /0 Patented Nov. 28,

1 i REFRI ERAT CAR QORIFA'ST I I Sven). Chicago iII LF application Jannary' Q, 1932. SeriaJ NO; j 585,6 7}:

3; 'dClaitrns. [(01.29.2440) "Ihis invention' relates to door, fasteners and more particularly to mechanism for holding. a

I I I I parting from the spirit fandscope of ltheap-j .One of the ob ectsof theinvention is the door -or closure-in a predetermined position.

. provision of new gan'd improved door fasteners having a novel,.reversiblewkeeper whereby the fastener may be associated-with either edge of a door.

Another object or, the invention is the proision of a novel .door latch. having anew and. improved relativearrangementof the latch and keeper. Y

.a further object of the i ve tion is ae'sm'. I vision of a new and improved door fastener that is provided with a novel arrangement of parts for permitting its operation by gravity.

. A further. object of the invention is the pie vision of anew and'improved door latch having anovel arrangement 7 for the attaching screws -or'0ther attaching mea andruggedin construction. i Other and iurther -ob'ects and advantages of the-invention will appearfroin the'following descriptiontaken in connection withthe accomits edges;

.Another object of t inv ntio is the provision. of a new and improved latching mechanism that is ,simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, effective in useand that is, strong.

panying drawing, in which- I nism;

in engaging position;

Fig.13 is a side elevation of, a portionliof a baseof-the keeper substantially: midway between i For the. purpose of illustration, the-device is I shown in connection witha railway'car door, but 5 in other relament members 20 and 30 presentlyjappear.

it is understood thatit may be used tions.

Referring now car having the double doors 11 andf12 hinged at 0 mentarily beveled as shown .at 15 and 16 in Fig. 4. I I I I I I I therethrough, latch member-'28 has onej e'nd The meeting edges of the. doors maybe 'comple-s It will thus be seen that the latch and keeper 'may be attached for fastening either edge of the It is thought from the foregoing in connectionwiththeaccompanying drawing that the construction and operation of the device will be apparent to those skilled in the art-and that va-v Fig. 1 is a plan yiew .of the latchingmecha =Fig. 2 is a side elevationshowing. th e parts to the drawing, the :re ference character 10 designates .a railway refrigerating.

rious changes'i'n' size, shape, proportion andde tails of construction may be made 'withoutqde pended claims i refrigerator cars, as commonly constructed .05 4 at the present time, the doorsareghinged and are adapted to swing outwardly; The A .R A; rules require that in the interest of safety-means be providedfor securing the door while open position." Usuallythis is accomplished by'a latch and keeper mechanism-mountedon theside-wall i 0f the car andon the free or. swinging edge of thedoor; I 7

Various devices have b'eenemployedfor this purpose. Some are too complicated tof be pracapplication, while still others arenot sufficiently .75": tical, othersrequire accurate adjustment in their strong and rugged to endure the-rou h usage to.

. In the present invention the {latching rniecha I nism comprisesa keeper 1? which is. preferably though not necessarily, attached; to the sidewall of the carand a latch mechanism which i s-se-.

cured to the freeedge of the door 11 The keeper 17 comprises a' body portionlliig; having a base or attaching flanges-19provided with apertures 21a therethroughior receiving at taching. screws or, bolts.

'The body 18 of the lieeperisprovidedon whati for convenience of description, will be termed its upper face, with-a recess 21a, a'ndjon'its lower face with a similar recess 22. The two. recesses;

are opposite each other and are separatedby a wveb 23 which constitutes a reinforcing member for the body portion; 4

The web has an opening 20 through its for dust and other foreign m'atterthat may acc miulate in. the uppennostrecess.

'The frontwalls oi the recesses constitute abuts j for .the latchfas will hinge lug 26 having .a horizontal .aperture}27.

100. ward portion for permittingthe escape of water,

I I I s05 I The latch mechanism comprises-an attaching-.

member. 261 having flanges25 by means of which a ,the. device is 'secured toits support. I I

The-attaching member 2f]: isprovidedwith 1a bifurcated for attachment .tp th lug 26; 'iThefj furc'ations 29 -and I 31Iof, the latchlstraddle' the or abutn1ent 33 which is adapted torengage the V flange 25' for limiting the downward movement I of the latch member 28. Theireeend of the latch tion. The-latch member has its nose or catch cooperating inclined surface 38 and a similar inclined surface 39 on its free end wherebywhen the door is swung to its fully open position the latch member 28 will be caused'to automatically engage one orthe other of these-shoulders or; abutments 20 or 30, dependinglon which is up "-Tof the keeper lla'have the openings 45 and 46 permost. s f When the inclined surface 37 of the latch 28 engagesthe inclined surface 38 in Fig.' 2, the

catch'is elevated. and falls by gravity behind the shoulder 20. A finger piece 41 which extends upwardly and forwardly from the body" of the latch member'addsto'the weightof the latch so' as to insure its operation by gravity. Furthermore, the shape of this finger piece renders it easy to grasp for releasing the'latch and for closing the door; When the door is to be closed,

it is only necessary to grasp the finger piece 41 and pull. The force of the pull not-only releases 7 the latch, but also moves the doortoward closing position. 7 i

The shoulders 20 and are considerably longer than the width" of the catch, as shown in- Fig. 1, whereby accuracy of attaching theparts is not necessaryas ample tolerance is provided inthis manner.

' The length of the lug 24 is such that it is adapt- J ed to engage the outer flat end n of the body of the keeper '1'? for limiting the movement of the doort-o' which the latch member is applied.- 'In this manner, any unnecessary shock on the latch member-28 is avoided when the door is thrown open Violently, as is often done when the device is used on refrigerator'cars. The free end of the keeper may be cored or have a portion removed as at 43for decreasing the weight and the amount of metal used' Y 1 The side walls of the cars are commonly provided with projections that will not permit the doors when. opened to be swung parallel there with. The doors, when in fully opened position,

will extend at an angle to the walls as shown in Fig. 4. It will thus be seen that the parts of the fastening means on the door will engage the part on the wall at an inclination, unless one part or the other is arranged at an inclination. Either the latch member or the keeper member,

for both, may be arranged at such an angle that the latch will be normal to the striker.

In the construction shown, the plane of the V attaching flanges 19 are arranged at an acute angle to the axis of the bodyportion o-fthe keeper, whereby the axis of the keeper and the "latch'will be in substantial alignment when the two are engaged;

. The keeper being symmetrical is reversible} that is, it may by inversion be employed on either side of the door, thus avoiding the neces sity of manufacturing them in rights and lefts. The latch being normal to its attaching flanges, it may be used on either edge of the door. This is considered an important feature of the inven- .tion sinceit nakes'provision for making the proper contact between the latch and itskeeper without the necessity of manufacturing two sets of devices.

In Fig. 5 is shown a modified form of an attaching flange which may be used on either the keeperor'the latch, or on both. This arrange- V ment is especially advantageous where the wall or door is of comparatively thin material. When the supporting materialis thin, the fastening means which are usually short screws will soon become loose under the severe usage to which the device issubjected' and are easily pulled out. In order to overcome this difficulty, provision 'is-m'ade for inserting the'fastening means at --anangle. to the planeof the base or attaching flanges. 'As shown, the attaching flanges 19a arranged at an angle'to the plane of the flanges 19a so that 'whenthe attaching members, as

the'screws, are inserted theywill be at' an angle to the plane of the flanges. Preferably, though not necessarily, they converge inwardly whereby a pull outwardly 5 on the keeper will cause the attaching screwsto clamp the materialbe-j,

tween them instead of "pulling out.-

In the operation or the device, when the doors are unfastened, they areswungtoopen position and the latch 28, whichish'eld by theshoulder rides up from the inclined WhatIclaim, therefore, is: a

1. In adoor fastener, a'keepermember comportion, said body portion being provided with prising a body portion, attaching 'flangesonv one i end of said body portion, the plane of saidflange being arran'g'ed'at an angle td'the axisbody symmetrically arranged upper andlower recesses separated by a web having an opening in its forward position, the front walls of said recessesforming latch engaging shoulders.

2. In a door fastener, a keeper comprising a body portion having similar recesses onopposite sides separated by'a' reinforcing partition, said partition having an openingin its outermost portion, the free end of said keeper having upper Y and lower inclined latch engaging surfaces converging forwardly and the forward walls of said recesses forming latch engaging shoulders -and an attaching flange rigidly secured on thein ner end of said body portion.

3. 1m a door fastenerjakeeper comprising a body portion having similar recesses on opposite sides separated by a reinforcing partition, said partition having an opening in its outermost portion; the freeend ofsaid keeper: having upper and'lower inclined latch engagingsurfaces con verging forwardly and the forward walls 'ofsaid Y.

recesses forming latch engaging shoulders and an attaching flange rigidly secured on theinner Y end: of said body portion, the axis, of said body -f portion being arranged at an acute angle to the I plane of said flange, and said keeper being symmetrical whereby the same may be reversed.

4. In a door faste er, a keeper comprising a body portion, attaching flanges on one end of said body portion, the plane'of said flanges being arranged at an angle-to the axis of the body,

portion, the free end' of said body pQrtion having symmetrically arranged inclined'surfaces" converging outwardly, said free end having a latch engaging shoulder adjacent to each in-Q clined surface inwardly thereof;

1 SVENVVJASVTRID.

I Lilac-: 

